Education

Jan 2009 - Present

Aug 2001 - Dec 2006

Youth Ministry & Bible

Myers Briggs Personality Test

MY TYPE:
E N T J
Strength of the preferences %
89 38 38 44
Rational Portrait of the Fieldmarshal (ENTJ)
Of the four aspects of strategic analysis and definition it is marshaling or situational organizing role that reaches the highest development in the Fieldmarshal. As this kind of role is practiced some contingency organizing is necessary, so that the second suit of the Fieldmarshal's intellect is devising contingency plans. Structural and functional engineering, though practiced in some degree in the course of organizational operations, tend to be not nearly as well developed and are soon outstripped by the rapidly growing skills in organizing. But it must be said that any kind of strategic exercise tends to bring added strength to engineering as well as organizing skills.
Hardly more than two percent of the total population, Fieldmarshals are bound to lead others, and from an early age they can be observed taking command of groups. In some cases, they simply find themselves in charge of groups, and are mystified as to how this happened. But the reason is that they have a strong natural urge to give structure and direction wherever they are - to harness people in the field and to direct them to achieve distant goals. They resemble Supervisors in their tendency to establish plans for a task, enterprise, or organization, but Fieldmarshals search more for policy and goals than for regulations and procedures.
They cannot not build organizations, and cannot not push to implement their goals. When in charge of an organization, whether in the military, business, education, or government, Fieldmarshals more than any other type desire (and generally have the ability) to visualize where the organization is going, and they seem able to communicate that vision to others. Their organizational and coordinating skills tends to be highly developed, which means that they are likely to be good at systematizing, ordering priorities, generalizing, summarizing, at marshaling evidence, and at demonstrating their ideas. Their ability to organize, however, may be more highly developed than their ability to analyze, and the Fieldmarshal leader may need to turn to an Inventor or Architect to provide this kind of input.
Fieldmarshals will usually rise to positions of responsibility and enjoy being executives. They are tireless in their devotion to their jobs and can easily block out other areas of life for the sake of their work. Superb administrators in any field - medicine, law, business, education, government, the military - Fieldmarshals organize their units into smooth-functioning systems, planning in advance, keeping both short-term and long-range objectives well in mind. For the Fieldmarshal, there must always be a goal-directed reason for doing anything, and people's feelings usually are not sufficient reason. They prefer decisions to be based on impersonal data, want to work from well thought-out plans, like to use engineered operations - and they expect others to follow suit. They are ever intent on reducing bureaucratic red tape, task redundancy, and aimless confusion in the workplace, and they are willing to dismiss employees who cannot get with the program and increase their efficiency. Although Fieldmarshals are tolerant of established procedures, they can and will abandon any procedure when it can be shown to be ineffective in accomplishing its goal. Fieldmarshals root out and reject ineffectiveness and inefficiency, and are impatient with repetition of error.
Hillary Clinton, Napoleon, Margret Thatcher, Carl Sagan, Bill Gates, Golda Meir, Edward Teller, George Benard Shaw, and General George C. Marshall are examples of Rational Fieldmarshals.

Reference(s)

To whom it may concern,

Re: Benjamin Anderson

I first met Ben when I became Senior Pastor of Oakwood Church in the summer of 2005. Ben had previously completed a youth internship at Oakwood through one of his classes at Crown College. At the completion of his internship our Leadership Board invited Ben to come on staff at Oakwood as a part time youth director.

Ben remained on our staff as a part time youth director until he graduated from Crown College in the summer of 2006. After graduation we changed his status from part time to full time. He continued to direct our youth program until his resignation in the fall of 2007.

Ben's responsibilities included, but were not limited to Wednesday evening youth program which included a variety of fun, hand-around-time, Bible study and food. He was also responsible for a Sunday morning Sunday School class with students 7th -12th grade. During the summer of 2007 he took a dozen students from Oakwood on a mission trip to California where they ministered to homeless people.

I always appreciated Ben's friendship and his love for students. God has a calling on his life and I am glad I was able to work with him for those two years.

If you have any questions or if I can be of any help to you please do not hesitate to contact me at steve.anderson@oakwoodonline.org or call our office at 952.442.4323.

Sincerely in Christ,

Steve

Dr. Stephen Anderson

Senior Pastor

To Whom It May Concern:

It is my pleasure to recommend Ben Anderson to you. I have known him for approximately 7 years, first as a student at the college then as his mentor. We have had many conversations and spent time together outside of the college setting. I have seen him at work in ministry; he has a desire to reach the lost, a desire to learn, and is deliberate about planning and making decisions.

Ben is an honest, caring person. He is committed to Jesus Christ and to serving in ministry. He offers people one-on-one time, care, and a relationship with an adult that they can count on and trust. His depth of understanding, compassion and patience with youth is outstanding.

Ben has made an impact on numerous lives, and I trust that he will continue to do that with any ministry or organization that he serves.

If you have any questions please e-mail or call me at 952.446.4352.

Sincerely,

Don Talbert, M.Div. Director of Career Services Crown College St. Bonifacius, MN talbertd@crown.edu

To Whom It May Concern:

On behalf of Mr. Benjamin Anderson, I would like to recommend him as a youth worker in your church. I have known Mr. Anderson as a student at Crown College and as my son’s youth pastor.

First, Mr. Anderson was a good student at Crown College. Ben distinguished himself among his peers due to his commitment to school and to co-curricular events, mainly baseball. He performed well in his co-curricular activities and in his work as a student. I believe Ben will do well in your church.

Second, Mr. Anderson works hard and is dedicated to his tasks. Ben is diligent to prepare for each day and handles his responsibilities with professionalism. Ben works well independently with little or no supervision. Ben did not disappoint me in his work or his follow though.

Third, Mr. Anderson has a high sense of responsibility for a young man. In a day when responsibility is cast off until ones early- to mid-thirties, Ben tries to take responsibility seriously. He seeks responsibility and handles it with poise.

I want to recommend Mr. Benjamin Anderson for a youth worker in your church. I believe with his abilities as a student, his dedication and work ethic, and his sense of responsibility, he will be a great candidate. If you should have further questions concerning Ben’s abilities, please do not hesitate to call or write me.

Sincerely,

Scott Moats, Ph.D.

Vice President of Academic Affairs

Crown College

952-446-4210

moatss@crown.edu

RE: Reference for Benjamin Anderson

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this reference for a current graduate student, Benjamin Anderson. I am the Director of Student Life and Student Activities at Concordia University, Nebraska. I am Ben’s supervisor for his position as a Resident Assistant. Ben was also chosen out of 70 applicants to be a resident assistant last year and will continue in that role next year. He also serves as the assistant baseball coach here at the university.

I have a great respect for Ben given his background as a youth pastor and in athletics. He has the ability to relate to a wide variety of people and is very easy to talk to. He is also very reflective. His relationship with Jesus Christ is evident but not overbearing. The Holy Spirit has blessed him with a desire to serve in many different ways.

Ben is concerned with the whole person and cares for those he serves and leads. He holds floor meetings and providing spiritual growth and community building for his floor each semester on a regular basis. In being evaluated by his floor in the first semester he was given a 4.7 average out of 5 rating in 10 categories of resident satisfaction. He is an exceptional leader as a coach and in his personal life by modeling integrity and love.

I am proud of the servant-leadership, honesty, concern and personality of Ben Anderson.

Objective

Seeking a position as a Student Ministries Pastor where creativity, planning, caring, and thought create outward and inward ministries that draw students to a transformed life that only Christ can offer for this world.

About Me

I'm 28 and currently reside in Seward, NE, and I am passionate about two things baseball and helping others become a better version of themselves. Around the age of 20, God began to take my life on a whirlwind ride and when that ride ended I was certain of one very important thing, that I had a calling and that my life would be empty if I was not using my life to help others. I began to find avenues to serve in after school programs and with special needs students. Through this, I could feel God stirring with something within me that I had only happened while playing baseball, and that was passion and love for what I was doing. It clicked in my head that I had found what I was meant to do.

After about three years of work through that program and continued baseball career, I had the opportunity to work at an area church. God worked and things began happening there as students grew in number and spirituality. I had found my niche working with student ministry. During my time there, I was also able to reach into the community with different sporting camps and coaching opportunities. Outreach and inreach are so near and dear to my heart. I loved working with the core group and bringing them alongside new students and helping them develop a love for Christ. These new students got to see firsthand how the church could function and how Christians could love and care for them.

Right around my three year mark there, I felt God taking me on another adventure, which leads me from Minnesota to Seward, NE. I got the opportunity to coach at Concordia University along with working with students on campus through the Student Life Office. My passions once again connected as I have been able to mentor players and have intentional relationships with them as they reach a point in their time where they are transitioning from home and to their future. Along with this, working with Student Life has allotted me different experiences to work with other students on campus and helping them live through their everyday problems through counseling, Bible studies, friendships, and every kind of interaction.

This brings us to this point in my life; I feel that God has once again brought me to a crossroad to look for an opportunity to pour myself into a ministry in a church setting. I am hoping to find a church which loves God, loves the community, and cannot help but find their passions and purposes in God. I really want to find a church that I can develop and transform the ministry into something that exudes God's love on these students for years and years as they develop into adults that love God and pass that on in their everyday lives.

I would love to sit down and talk to you about ministry and be able to talk to you about so much that about me and my thoughts about ministry that cannot be communicated through a resume. I pray that God will give us that opportunity.

StrengthsFinder

BENJAMIN P ANDERSON
Your Signature Themes

Many years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors. These people are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families.

A review of the knowledge and skills you have acquired can provide a basic sense of your abilities, but an awareness and understanding of your natural talents will provide true insight into the core reasons behind your consistent successes.

Your Signature Themes report presents your five most dominant themes of talent, in the rank order revealed by your responses to StrengthsFinder. Of the 34 themes measured, these are your "top five."

Your Signature Themes are very important in maximizing the talents that lead to your successes. By focusing on your Signature Themes, separately and in combination, you can identify your talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy personal and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

Relator

Relator describes your attitude toward your relationships. In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls you toward people you already know. You do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people—in fact, you may have other themes that cause you to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends—but you do derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends. You are comfortable with intimacy. Once the initial connection has been made, you deliberately encourage a deepening of the relationship. You want to understand their feelings, their goals, their fears, and their dreams; and you want them to understand yours. You know that this kind of closeness implies a certain amount of risk—you might be taken advantage of—but you are willing to accept that risk. For you a relationship has value only if it is genuine. And the only way to know that is to entrust yourself to the other person. The more you share with each other, the more you risk together. The more you risk together, the more each of you proves your caring is genuine. These are your steps toward real friendship, and you take them willingly.

Restorative

You love to solve problems. Whereas some are dismayed when they encounter yet another breakdown, you can be energized by it. You enjoy the challenge of analyzing the symptoms, identifying what is wrong, and finding the solution. You may prefer practical problems or conceptual ones or personal ones. You may seek out specific kinds of problems that you have met many times before and that you are confident you can fix. Or you may feel the greatest push when faced with complex and unfamiliar problems. Your exact preferences are determined by your other themes and experiences. But what is certain is that you enjoy bringing things back to life. It is a wonderful feeling to identify the undermining factor(s), eradicate them, and restore something to its true glory. Intuitively, you know that without your intervention, this thing—this machine, this technique, this person, this company—might have ceased to function. You fixed it, resuscitated it, rekindled its vitality. Phrasing it the way you might, you saved it.

Woo

Woo stands for winning others over. You enjoy the challenge of meeting new people and getting them to like you. Strangers are rarely intimidating to you. On the contrary, strangers can be energizing. You are drawn to them. You want to learn their names, ask them questions, and find some area of common interest so that you can strike up a conversation and build rapport. Some people shy away from starting up conversations because they worry about running out of things to say. You don’t. Not only are you rarely at a loss for words; you actually enjoy initiating with strangers because you derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection. Once that connection is made, you are quite happy to wrap it up and move on. There are new people to meet, new rooms to work, new crowds to mingle in. In your world there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet—lots of them.

Strategic

The Strategic theme enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, you play out alternative scenarios, always asking, “What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?” This recurring question helps you see around the next corner. There you can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles. Guided by where you see each path leading, you start to make selections. You discard the paths that lead nowhere. You discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. You discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion. You cull and make selections until you arrive at the chosen path—your strategy. Armed with your strategy, you strike forward. This is your Strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike.

Responsibility

Your Responsibility theme forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it through to completion. Your good name depends on it. If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. Apologies are not enough. Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution. This conscientiousness, this near obsession for doing things right, and your impeccable ethics, combine to create your reputation: utterly dependable. When assigning new responsibilities, people will look to you first because they know it will get done. When people come to you for help—and they soon will—you must be selective. Your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should.

Philosophy of Ministry

Relationships rule the day when it comes to teenagers, and I am not too naïve to think that relationships do not play a huge role in an adults' life. When it comes to ministry, we are really in the business of building and restoring relationships. That is how it all began. There was a relationship with Adam and God; God saw that man needed another relationship and along came Eve. Mans' choice to sin breaks that relationship, and humanity starts its cycle of the need of restoring and building relationships.

So we find ourselves in the business of restoring and building relationships for students with God, with parents, with friends, with significant others, and ourselves. Ministry starts and ends with relationships. Working with teens, it will soon be obvious that they do not care about what degree you hold, what books you have read, or any other accomplishments along the way. They want to know if that person working with them cares about them and that that person is sincere. If a person has those qualifications, they will have good ministry. The most accomplished person may be able to impress and demand respect from an adult, but teenagers develop respect through time and do not immediately give it. Developing that relationship is core to ministry with teens.

The youth pastor, volunteer, and staff relationships are also vital to ministry. Building strong, growing, and powerful relationships with the people you work with rapidly grows ministry. Mutual respect and love will pattern and allow the students to develop relationships with the staff and volunteers at rapid rate. After all, growing personal, sincere, and powerful relationships do not happen with one youth pastor and a hundred students. It takes volunteers with smaller groups to ministry and care for each and every student.

Finally, we get to the most important aspect of relationships and that is our relationship with Christ. Very simply our lives are empty and meaningless and ultimately, headed for Hell without a relationship with Christ. This is not an easy road to drive. It is a constant road of forgiveness and restoration of relationship, but it is the most important thing that we can develop in this life. As we develop this relationship, we can begin to develop a life that will not only pattern our relationship with Christ but begin to restore this relationship with Christ in others. That is the reason why ministry exists, and why I have chosen ministry as my life ambition.